Well, Ross Perot now claims the title of presidential candidate for the Reform Party. Never mind the fact that the second largest state in the Union, New York, saw anywhere from twelve thousand to thirty-four thousand members of its Reform-allied Independence party disenfranchised from the 'nomination' process. Never mind that in the wake of his 'victory' Perot has now formed yet ANOTHER election committee, Perot '96, which not only continues Perot's legal standing as an INDEPENDENT rather than a THIRD-PARTY candidate, but in fact finally dispenses with the word "reform" completely as far as its use in any of the legal paperwork filed by Perot with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) is concerned. Never mind that the purpose of this newest incarnation of the Perot machine is specifically to collect funds for Perot's presidential campaign, and specifically NOT to collect funds for any legitimate Reform Party entity that might be out there, an important point which has finally been clearly established by the indefatigable AP reporter, Katie Fairbank. You might be a legitimate state-based third party aligned with the Reform Party with a fully established line on the ballot such as exists in states like New York or Minnesota; or you might be a vigorous, thriving grassroots political Reform Party organization, such as currently exists in California and Illinois, which has achieved only partial ballot access thus far through candidate petitions. It doesn't matter: Perot '96 wants nothing to do with either of you; you are on your own.
Yet through a cruel twist of fate, the future of this loose coalition of existing and nascent third parties now apparently rides on the fortunes of this eccentric and unpredictable billionaire, whose motivations seem to swing wildly between pure patriotism and sheer egomania.
And those fortunes are not going well at the moment. Ross Perot is mired in single digits currently according to all the trusted and respectable polls. Worse, it appears possible, perhaps even likely, that he may be denied access to the presidential debates. And it is not only his poor showing in the polls which appears to be jeopardizing his access to those events. To this minute, he still has not named any person as more than a supposed "stand-in" to run with him for the office of Vice President. And, in addition, I am hearing repeated rumblings that his federal funding may be challenged on the grounds that because the FEC views his candidacy as an INDEPENDENT rather than a THIRD-PARTY variety, therefore his campaign expenditures for the year to date, which have been in the millions, may eventually compel him to return the federal funding, on the grounds that federal funding may only be granted to those candidates who have spent fifty-thousand dollars or less of their own money. In addition, a candidate's grant of federal funding may also be withdrawn if the FEC decides such a candidate has no Vice Presidential candidate. If James Campbell, who has signed his name on Perot's letter to the FEC as the Vice Presidential candidate, makes a final decision that he will not under any circumstances become this year's James Stockdale, Perot could lose his federal funding on this basis alone. The scary thing about all this is that the debate commission has made it clear that the availability of federal funding to a candidate is one of the important criteria they will take into account when making their final determination. Should Perot be disqualified from such funding, it could be the final straw which destroys any chance of his participating in the debates.
Which would leave the grassroots nascent Reform Party around this country stranded high and dry without a credible presidential candidate.
Which leaves the following as the worst-case scenario: Perot's federal funding is withdrawn; he is denied participation in the debates; state-based Reform parties and their candidates endure dismal showings at the ballot box throughout the country as Perot's candidacy collapses completely at the polls on Election Day. Ultimate message: The urgent need for political reform in this country, and for a return to fiscal sanity and common sense on the part of our government, not only will not be met; it will be completely ignored. Trust in our democracy on the part of our people, and the percentage of turnout during our elections, will continue to slide ever frighteningly lower, and the nation's budget will slide perilously closer to bankruptcy.
There is only one slim hope I see on the horizon. A distinguished group of Reform Party leaders from around the nation are attempting to create a legitimate national leadership for this party, drawn from the active grassroots organizers of the past four years. Ex-Presidential candidate Richard Lamm and his Vice Presidential candidate, Ed Zschau, have indicated their support for this effort. The group has scheduled a meeting on September 28, to which Reform leaders from all fifty states have been invited. Time only will tell whether this effort will grow into the nucleus for a real national party leadership separate and apart from the support, influence, or interference of Ross Perot. But at this time I pin my hopes on this fragile new flower. May my faith not be misplaced.
My regular readers are familiar with my pipedreams. Well, here's another: I live in New York. New York's Independence Party was shamefully treated by Ross Perot when the Independence Party agreed to give the Reform Party its Presidential line on the New York ballot. Not only were thousands of our registered voters denied access to Ross Perot's 'nomination process.' There were also several people receiving ballots who had no right to those ballots. Ross Perot had agreed to furnish ballots in New York only to those voters duly registered in our Independence Party. Yet I personally received not one, not two, not three, but FOUR, count them, FOUR preliminary preference surveys, along with not one, not two, but THREE, count them, THREE nomination ballots. I received them as a result of several phone calls I made, during the preliminary preference survey stage, to the old 800 number Ross Perot set up for his 'nomination process,' 180096PARTY. In every single one of those phone calls, I was never told whether or not my name was already listed as a registered member of the New York Independence Party (I am), nor was I asked whether I WAS a registered member of that party. Instead, my name and address were apparently entered once into their database FOR EVERY TIME I CALLED. It boggles the mind to think of how many people in New York may have illegitimately received ballots in this manner while legitimately registered members of New York's Independence Party went begging.
So my pipedream is this: Our state chair, Laureen Oliver, has already made clear how outrageously she feels New York was treated in this process. She has also made clear that the New York Independence Party is no longer necessarily obligated to place Ross Perot on the ballot of New York State because of these outrages. So my dream is that New York will lead the national Reform Party in the direction of another more viable Presidential candidate, -- one who can legitimately claim the mantle of successor to the political movement spawned by the 1992 candidacy of Ross Perot, one who will be able to attract to his or her ticket a legitimate, believable and credible Vice Presidential candidate, and, most importantly, the sort of figure who will show up in the polls credibly enough to be invited to participate in this year's presidential debates.
Obviously, the odds of all of this happening are long indeed. But if the Chicago meeting at least has the effect of establishing a grassroots presence for the Reform Party that, at the very least, separates it in the public's mind from Ross Perot, and thus increases its legitimacy in the eyes of the public and the media, then some good will have been accomplished.
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